Hundreds of D.C. residents waited in line for hours on Thursday to try to apply for emergency rental assistance, or ERAP.
The program gives one-time aid to people who are about to be evicted or are in danger of experiencing homelessness. Residents waited in line not to get help that day but to request an appointment to be able to come back and apply.
News4 pressed Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Human Services (DHS) about what happened.
In years past, D.C. residents were able to apply for ERAP online. This year, DHS said it switched to only phone or in-person appointments, to “better manage limited funding.”
One man standing in line said he tried to call to make an appointment, but he couldn’t get through, so he got in line after getting out of school. A woman said the economy has been tough and the long line is proof.
The overwhelming need comes amid steep funding cuts to the program.
In fiscal year 2024, the ERAP program got about $60 million in the D.C. budget. In 2025, that was cut to about $26.9 million. In 2026, it will be $8.6 million – less than one-fifth of what it was two years ago.
News4 asked Bowser about the long lines.
“Clearly it was oversubscribed. It’s likely oversubscribed,” she said.
“I think that we have to have a larger discussion in the city about how people are paying their bills. ERAP was never meant to be a supplemental income program; it’s for emergencies,” she said.
D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau blasted DHS.
“DHS should never have forced residents to stand in line for hours in the cold and should have been prepared for the crush of phone calls. DHS should apologize to D.C. residents and explain how this very predictable outcome was not foreseen and how they will make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said in a statement.
In their own statement, DHS said: “We could have done better. DHS will be reviewing its performance and working closely with the Mayor and Council to reassess ERAP moving forward.”
Bowser had proposed funding cuts to ERAP last year, suggesting there was fraud in the program and that some people who were getting the help didn’t actually need it.
The News4 I-Team did some digging last year and obtained DHS data that showed there was suspected fraud in less than 1% of 12,000 applications last year.
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